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Regulators Push for Rural Communications – 16-month campaign to educate people about government programs that can improve access to telecommunications services in underserved areas.

Federal regulators began a series of initiatives Wednesday to improve telephone, Internet and digital television services in rural areas.

By DAVID HO
Associated Press Writer Springfield News Sun

The Federal Communications Commission said it would begin a 16-month campaign to educate people about government programs that can improve access to telecommunications services in underserved areas. The outreach program will focus on the Appalachia and Mississippi Delta regions and American Indian lands.

“The digital migration is for all Americans,” FCC Chairman Michael Powell said. “Advances in communications technology, including digital television, wireless phones, satellite-fed services and unlicensed devices, offer the opportunity to improve the quality of life and to promote economic development in rural America.”

The education program will seek to inform people about federal discounts for local phone service and phone line installation available to low-income consumers. FCC staff also will visit Alaskan native villages to study problems with deploying communications services.

The commission also began seeking comment on what regulations might be needed to promote the conversion to digital television among low-power television stations, which often serve rural communities. Congress has set a goal of December 2006 for TV broadcasters to switch from analog to digital signals, which offer more vivid pictures and crisper sound.

The FCC also will hold a workshop next month to study rural companies that use grain silos, water towers and pumping stations as broadcast towers for delivering wireless high-speed Internet access to underserved areas.

Separately, the commission voted to eliminate rules that limited the installation or operation of satellite ground stations used for telephone service in remote communities in Alaska. The change will increase the availability of affordable long-distance service in that state, the FCC said.

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On the Net:

Telecommunications Service for Rural America: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/rural/

Copyright 2003, The Associated Press.

http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/biz/content/business/ap_story.html/Financial/AP.V9039.AP-FCC-Rural-Commu.html

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